Ex-Ambassador Wilson to Name Names

AP via Yahoo ^ | March 2, 2004 | Curt Anderson

[Quilla]

Former Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson will reveal the name of the person he thinks leaked his wife's identity as an undercover CIA (news - web sites) officer in a book due out in May, his publisher said Tuesday.

A federal grand jury has heard testimony from at least four White House officials in its investigation to identify the leaker of Valerie Plame's name to syndicated columnist Robert Novak, who published the name in his syndicated column last July. Numerous other officials have been interviewed by the FBI (news - web sites).

Spokeswoman Karen Auerbach of the Avalon Publishing Group in New York said she did not know the identity of the purported leaker.

Novak said in his July 14 column that his sources were two unidentified senior administration officials. Novak has not commented about the matter during the grand jury investigation.

Wilson's book, "The Politics of Truth," is scheduled to come out May 20.

Publication of the book and Wilson's accompanying promotional tour could have political overtones because he is now a foreign policy adviser to Democratic presidential front-runner John Kerry (news - web sites). Democrats are seeking to raise questions of credibility in the minds of voters about the reasons President Bush (news - web sites) went to war.

Wilson did not return telephone calls seeking comment for this story. He has previously contended that White House political adviser Karl Rove condoned the leak but was not the actual leaker.

After Novak's column appeared, Wilson said other reporters told him that Rove had characterized Plame as "fair game" because of Wilson's criticism of the White House's uses of intelligence before the Iraq (news - web sites) war.

The White House has repeatedly denied that Rove was the leaker.

Wilson was enlisted by the CIA to investigate whether Iraq tried to buy uranium from Niger. He said he found no evidence of such an attempt and has accused the Bush administration of exaggerating Iraq's nuclear capabilities to build support for war.

A description of the book on the publishing company's Web site says Wilson's conclusions about the Niger uranium were "brushed aside" by the administration.

The grand jury has continued to meet regularly in Washington under the direction of U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald of Chicago, who was appointed by Deputy Attorney General James Comey to oversee the probe. Attorney General John Ashcroft (news - web sites) disqualified himself from the case in December in the face of Democratic criticism of his close political ties to the White House.

The leaker could be charged with a felony that carries a sentence of up to 10 years in prison.

[baseballmom]

Hellooooooooooooo Mr. Wilson............

[concerned about politics]

When was "Politics of Truth" published?

It'll hit the book stores in May, but the draft was available for viewers long before the leak.
When the story first broke, people were wondering what the big deal was about. FOX covered the story, and interviewed the press members who had already read the draft. They claimed it was already disclosed in his book.

[blackdog]

He must be confusing two dossiers. One on his wife's employment and another on who's Trojan broke inside his wife.

[cyncooper]

Except Dean really did serve for Nixon. Wilson never was knowingly given an assignment by anyone to do with President Bush. That's how this whole brouhaha over a leak started with the "it was his wife, NOT the Bushies, who sent him" business.

I'd like the wife doing a perp walk, too.

[Spotsy]

Wasn't Wilson already working for Kerry when Wilson was sent on his "fact finding" mission in Niger?

[Taliesan]

A Grand Jury will indict a ham sandwich.

[cwb]

"A description of the book on the publishing company's Web site says Wilson's conclusions about the Niger uranium were "brushed aside" by the administration."

Just because someone may have a contrarian view to somone else doesn't mean they were "brushed aside." From what I recall, Wilson only spent a week in this country "sipping tea" and talking to locals. Why should his observations be given any more credibility than those of others, who have worked this issue for over a decade.

The very nature of intelligence is weighing abstract information from many sources...sources, including the UN, and many others, that concluded differently than Mr. Plame. And while I do object to the release of his wife's name to the public, it is only a crime if the defendant knew she was still undercover and the intent was to compromise her position. Otherwise, the relationship between his report and her position is very relevant...especially in light of his close ties to the Kerry campaign,

[Shermy]

It'll hit the book stores in May, but the draft was available for viewers long before the leak. When the story first broke, people were wondering what the big deal was about. FOX covered the story, and interviewed the press members who had already read the draft. They claimed it was already disclosed in his book.

You have a link?

[Shermy]

When he first was working with Kerry, I don't know. I can trace it only so far back as mid-2003. Naturally its likely they had connections before that.

[1Old Pro]

personally i THINK it was wilson himself

You may be right. His career was over and his wife was doing some filing work. They needed the attention and hopefully either damages or new jobs.

[cwb]

From what I understand, Bush didn't keep Wilson around...which is why this thing stinks. Cheney admits he didn't even know who this guy was, or why the CIA chose him to go. This is obviously why Valerie's involvement in this case was relevant since it appears she may have had some influnece in getting her husband chosen for this job. A man, by the way, who already had an anti-Bush/Iraq War bias. Something stinks...and it isn't the release of Wilson's wifes name.

[Spotsy]

Except Dean really did serve for Nixon. Wilson never was knowingly given an assignment by anyone to do with President Bush. That's how this whole brouhaha over a leak started with the "it was his wife, NOT the Bushies, who sent him" business. I'd like the wife doing a perp walk, too

I understand what you say, but I was just pointing to the similarities in ego. Wilson and Dean couldn't be more in love with themselves and they would like to think that they have the power to bring down the White House.

[concerned about politics]

You have a link?

Nope. I just watched it on FOX. It was quite awhile ago when the story first broke. I didn't bother trying to save a link to a story or anything. Who'd have thought it would go anywhere at the time. He leaked it himself, so it should have just gone away. The Democrats turned it into a scandal after that and it became news.

[concerned about politics]

PS...Amazon.com has had the book on their site for quite awhile for orders , too, but he wouldn't allow them to use the "look inside" option. They still can't show the inside.
If they showed the inside early, people would see it was him.

[RippleFire]

bump

[cyncooper]

Ultimately, Bush has to blame himself for this damage: he should never have kept Wilson (or any of the rest of Clinton's cronies).

Wilson has never had a position in this Bush administration.

He was sent by a sub-group of the CIA on their own initiative, not even at Tenet's behest, and that's what led to the "why was Joe Wilson sent?" and the infamous answer: "His wife suggested his name".

[Diogenesis]

THE TRAITOR IS ..........

Agents and assets (some of dubious value) WERE ENDANGERED by Traitor Robert Novak.

Two government officials told Robert Novak
repeatedly and explicitly not to publish the name ,/b>of undercover CIA operative Valerie Plame
in his July 14 newspaper column.

Novak is an operative of Sen. Kerry and the DNC.
Where are their papers? Where are the bills?

[AmishDude]

Remember that Wilson first accused Rove as a product of Wilson's own diseased, paranoid mind.

[Godfollow]

Wilson Thinks... THINKS... THINKS... he knows who the leaker is.

Ya wanna know what I THINK? You're one of the biggest Climers since GW assigned that famous body part to the reporter.

[cyncooper]

Could it be...Plame herself? Who leaked to the BBC the Niger fable even before Joe's NYtimes piece?

Could be. That was sourced to an anonymous "CIA official". Then when traction failed to be gained, Wilson resorted to his NY Times op-ed "outing" himself.

(And as I always like to point out, at the time the anonymous CIA official was chatting up the BBC reporter, the Gilligan/Kelly/sexed-up dossier story was being rolled out over there. Both stories designed to claim Bush/Blair lied about pre-war intelligence. Coincidence? I think not.)